The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone by Olivia Laird

The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone

 By Olivia Laird

3336 pages

 The Lonely City is an elegant mix of memoir and biography that captures the nature of introspection amongst the teaming throngs of civilization. 

within its pages Laird searches to define the meaning of being lonely and why we as humans need to be connected to others.

Ironically her adventure is set in New York City, where as a woman in her thirties she finds herself alone and empty in a bustling city of hipsters, artists, Wall Street wannabees and ordinary people from all walks of life looking to make ends meet. 

 Looking to pinpoint the source of her desolation she turned to art as a means to explore the flavors, sounds, neighborhood and sights of the city hoping for an answer as to how should possible feel alone in one of the largest epicenters of human activity. 

For Laird art is both an absent friend and freeing element that stimulates curiosity and imagination.

The Lonely City also considers the dynamics of technology with loneliness. As new technologies becomes available, she argues, its role often changes between that of a jailor and liberator.

Weaving between the subways and spaces of Manhattan her narrative unfolds, leaving readers with reflections that are heartfelt, funny, tragic, powerful and poignant.  Although her quest to unearth a definable meaning for being alive is, at times, as futile as finding the Fountain of Youth, her need for revitalization and attachment serves as a catalyst for a profound study of human interaction.